My Torture
by At Some Actor's West Side Loft
Summary: After getting out of the Forest of the Dead, Donna and the Doctor come to realize they need each other more than they ever imagined. A bit of a one shot, but driven largely by their friendship/humor. First fanfic and first bit of smut I'm publishing, so any and all feedback/reviewing is appreciated!


"My Torture"

For about a second, they stood together, leaning against the heavy wooden bookcase. Taking in everything the other had to offer with their eyes: The confusion, the sadness.

Two voices in sync, three compassionate hearts wanting to know one thing. "Are you alright?"

The Doctor spoke first. "Yeah, I'm alright. I'm fine, I'll always be fine."

"Is alright a Time Lord code for not really alright at all?" she asked.

He answered with silence.

"Then I'm alright, too."

For one of the very few times they'd been together, the Doctor could not relate to Donna. He'd just saved River Song from certain death, and knew she was doing well, having been reunited with the rest of her expedition crew. Meanwhile, Donna had lost the man of her dreams. Actually, to be more precise, he had never really existed. So, as far as traumatic, otherworldly experiences went, this was one of the worst she had ever suffered. She morosely retreated to her bedroom, didn't come out for dinner when the Doctor made it, and simply wanted to sleep.

It frightened the Doctor. He'd never seen Donna take anything so badly. Her spirit, her strength, had been snatched up, consumed by that alternate reality.

"Well, I need to talk to her sometime, or else this will just get worse," the Doctor thought worriedly. He crept cautiously into her room, not wanting to wake her if she was actually sleeping. She wasn't. Her glazed eyes, normally a vibrant shade of green, were currently dull and lackluster, like flowers that fade and wilt in the middle of a summertime drought. They were fixed on the ceiling, and tear tracks had made grooves in her face, down her cheeks.

"Donna? How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"How d'you think I'm feeling...I always knew you were an idiot." she whispered sharply.

He bit his tongue to keep from laughing with relief; Donna wouldn't take it well at all in her current state. Still, she'd always had more spice than a grocery store, and it was nice to see she possessed at least a hint of her usual spunk.

"I'm sorry. So, so sorry." There really was nothing else he could say. He'd experienced true loss countless times before, but it wouldn't help to bring that up, not when Donna was this devastated.

"Is there anything I can do for you? Get you a cuppa? Take you somewhere special tonight?"

"No, thanks. Actually, wait, can you get me your stethoscope?"

"Er…yeah, hang tight a minute," he answered, wrinkling his brow as he walked away, trying to determine why she needed it. She was in good physical health, but she was just mentally worn down.

He returned as quickly as possible to appease her.

"Could you lean closer to me, Doctor?" she asked.

"Yeah…umm, no offense, Donna, do you know exactly what you're doing with that?" he responded, trying mightily to keep any tone of annoyance or condescension out of his voice.

"Of course, you idiot!" she snapped. Then she placed it on the Doctor's chest, heard his double heart beat making a bass rhythm in her ears. He understood.

"I just…I just wanted to…be sure, you know, that you're real and here and with me, and all that," she whispered as new tears traveled down the well worn path of their predecessors.

"Of course, of course, it's absolutely fine, Donna. I'm here for you," he reassured her, squeezing her hand.

"Thanks," she answered shakily, drawing a tight breath. "It's dumb, but…I needed to."

"Really, it's fine, I completely understand."

"Thanks," she managed a watery smile.

"Anytime." he smiled back. "Goodnight, Donna, sleep well." He walked away, turned out the lights, and made to shut her door.

"Doctor?" she called haltingly.

"Need something?"

"Yeah, um, listen. Could you…would you…sleep with me tonight?" she whispered.

"What?!" he couldn't help the immediate reaction. This was Donna, his mate, his companion who would only ever be just his mate, the one he'd end up hurting the least, the one…

"Ew. Not that way, sunshine, don't flatter yourself!" she retorted with her typical scorn. "I just want someone to be with tonight, but if that's too much to ask…"  
He was relieved to hear that the normal, fiery Donna had made an appearance. "No, no, no, of course not. It's fine, Donna. It's just…you know how we are. If you meant that request in a different way…"

"Yes, ok, I get it, spaceman." A hint of a smile played on her lips, and her eyes rolled skyward.

"Just let me get my pajamas on, I'll be back in a minute," he promised. "And don't steal all the blankets while I'm gone, you hear?" he called as he walked away.

He was quite happy that he and Donna had this platonic relationship. She needed someone there for her tonight, and he could, of course, help her with that. If this had been with someone like Rose or Sarah Jane Smith, though, he wasn't sure how they'd take sleeping…resting with him, he amended in his head; the term "resting" wasn't bursting at the

seams with implications. What if they tried to cuddle with him, and he didn't respond? And if he simply didn't rest with them at all, did that mean that he did not care for them as a friend? With Donna…those problems were popsicles on a hot summer day. They evaporated in no time at all.

"You even wear pinstripe pajamas?" she asked in disbelief when he returned.

"Yes, I do, and they look dashing," he replied merrily, glad to see flashes of Donna's personality coming back to life.

"You are simply ridiculous."

"I know, it's great, I quite enjoy it."

"Well, goodnight. Thanks again, mate."

"Night, Donna."

The Doctor was generally an early riser, but this reincarnation of his body, he had learned quickly, was not a morning person. He was a slave to his tea when he woke up. The Time Lord could barely function without it. So, finding himself in Donna's bed, with the redhead sleeping soundly next to him, resulted in his mind screaming "WHAT?! WHAT!? WHAT?!" repeatedly for a good minute before he recalled the previous night's events.

"Right, right, right," he whispered. He couldn't help but look at Donna for a few minutes. Was this Donna? This soft, gentle looking woman? She'd been out before, of course, empathizing with countless creatures and people in the universe. As a general rule, during those moments, the Doctor had no time to read her face or body language. He was too busy trying to prevent someone or something from dying. So this Donna, to him, was just…unnatural. But the tranquility was nice, in a way, he reflected. Models would kill for her pale skin. "She's fairly pretty, especially for a ginger," the Doctor thought charitably. The hair worked for her, really. And while he wasn't a human, the Time Lord was still a male, so he couldn't really prevent his eyes from watching her expansive chest rise and fall beneath her black cotton pajama top as she breathed. "And she thinks she's common? The woman's daft. And been with a bunch of rotten blokes. Not really a surprise she's got such low self esteem, then," he conceded. "Ah, what am I doing?" He shook his head. "This is weird…is it? No. No, no, no, no. It's not as if I'm admiring her at all. I'm just really seeing her, like I haven't before." He went off to cook some breakfast for them.

Donna stumbled out of her room a half hour later, still looking a bit worn out. The sleep had been a fantastic artist for her, though: The color had returned to her face, and she wore a sleepy smile.

"Morning!" the Doctor beamed at her. "Want a spot of tea, toast, bacon, eggs?"

"All of the above, please, Doctor," she replied. "And thanks for staying with me last night."

"No problem, I'd…" the Doctor gulped back the words like he was taking a shot of Jack Daniels and faked a coughing fit. He'd been about to say, "I'd be happy to do it again," but he didn't feel like waking Donna's temper up this early. He'd only thought of saying that because it was true, he'd be happy to help any of his companions in any way he could, but Donna wouldn't take it that way.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just swallowed some hot tea too fast. Anyway, I was going to say, I'm glad to see you're feeling better!"

"Yes, loads better," she smiled. "Is there anywhere we really need to be today?"

"Not really, no," he replied. "Bit of a break after that mess is in order for us, what d'you think?"

"Yeah, that would be nice. I was just wondering, could we maybe stop in at home? It's just, there's my high school class' 20th reunion, and I know it sounds stupid, but I want to see old friends, catch up, you know? Do they have those kinds of things on other planets, spaceman?"

"Oh, absolutely," the Doctor answered, eyes glowing. "If you can create a reason for a celebration, anyone will find a reason to go to it."

"So we can go?" Donna grabbed his arm.

"Yeah, let's do it, we'll have a blast," he laughed at her excitement. "It'll be smashing." He skipped around the table to the control deck of the TARDIS and began tinkering with switches.

"The only problem is I don't really want to go home. You know, deal with my Mum and all that. I did just see them, right?"

"Yeah, we left three days ago, why are you worried?"  
"Well, I need a proper dress, don't I? I didn't bring that many clothes with me, and I have to at least look presentable. Men don't get it, especially you. You don't even need to try." Donna blushed a bit as she said this.

"Oh, Donna, don't worry about it, you'll find something in the TARDIS, I promise," he reassured her.

"You're sure, Doctor? A couple days ago you promised me we were going to a beach. We ended up at the Library," she responded icily.

The Doctor winced. He'd quite forgotten that promise. Now he fixed Donna with a serious gaze. "Donna Noble, I swear to you that if you fail to turn at least one man's head tonight, you can slap me, just once, for no reason at all, at any time you please."

Donna's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and she pounced on the opportunity. "Straight cross the face?"

He winced again. "Yes."

"Cross your hearts, hope to die?"

"Well, that would kill me, so I wouldn't need to hope to die, I'd just kind of be snuffed out-"  
Her laugh rang through the TARDIS. "You know what I mean, shut your mouth. Ok, I'll take your promise."

The TARDIS touched down at the edge of the parking lot about an hour before the reunion was due to begin. Donna had begun prepping herself and was just getting out of the shower. The Doctor called to her from the main room.

"Hey, Donna? I'm going to go out for a spot of dinner before the reunion. I'm a bit hungry right now."

"Ok," she called back.

"Meet you back in here, then?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

He chuckled quietly to himself as he left. For once, he was going to surprise Donna in a rather human way. No pinstripe suit for this occasion-He was sporting a dark green jacket, a freshly ironed white shirt, and black khakis. He'd even spray painted his blue high top Converse black to match. The color would fade in the wash, anyway. "Don't tell me I never change, Donna Noble!" he thought smugly to himself, imagining her eyebrows leaping to the ceiling in shock over his attire.

Meanwhile, Donna hoped she'd be able to find something suitable within the hour. The Doctor apparently kept a small department store in the TARDIS. Yet all he ever wore was that pinstriped suit! He'd look a damn sight nicer if he altered his wardrobe more than once every lifetime. Not that there was THAT much wrong with him as he was-though Donna would never tell him that. "Oh, spaceman," she sighed. "You are truly, impossibly bonkers."

She went back to rummaging through the closet looking for a decent dress, flicking through the clothes racks. "Too frilly, too small, too Victorian, too small, too formal, too small…dammit, Doctor, not all women are as tiny as Rose, even if that's what you prefer!" She chucked a few of the dresses on the floor and glared at them, sulking. If she didn't find something in a few minutes…

And then she stumbled upon a gown, tripped, lost her balance, and almost took out a whole rack of dresses. "I am such a cow sometimes," Donna moaned. She examined the dress that triggered her fall, and laughed bitterly. "Of course it's midnight blue. My favorite color, practically the only one that always looks good on me, and I step on it. Bet it's too small anyway," she grumbled. Gingerly, she got to her feet and laid it out on the bed. "Holy crap!" she whispered. "This might actually fit me!" Eagerly, though not effortlessly, she zipped herself into the dress. She made her way over to the large mirror in the bathroom. Whenever Donna tried on clothes, she always quoted half of a Benjamin Franklin saying: "Prepare for the worst." Why expect the best when you're always disappointed? That was her way of thinking. But this dress…Donna clapped her hands to her body to make sure she was wearing it, to check that this wasn't some kind of fantasy projection mirror the Doctor had stored away. "Damn. Damn, damn, damn, I am a BABE!" she cried out. A giant smile spread across her face. She hadn't looked this good in a somewhat formal dress since…well, ever! She'd always been plain Donna, common Donna, at her best. More often, she was pudgy Donna, fat Donna, "why don't you order salad like the rest of the women" Donna. She'd never really liked her body. The vast majority of pigs she'd been with were only concerned with her chest. No one noticed how a fiery waterfall ran part way down her back and complemented her snowy skin flawlessly. No one ever said her eyes reminded them of springtime. Well, the Doctor had probably noticed, but he noticed everything, so it wasn't a big deal, and he wasn't at all like other men, now was he? They just saw what they desired, and it was not her. Well, that could change tonight. "This is fantastic!" she laughed.

About ten minutes later, the Doctor swaggered into the TARDIS and tossed his jacket onto a chair. "I'm going to knock her dead for once, and she will never live it down," he smirked.

"Donna, you nearly ready?"

"Uh, yeah, just give me a second." She had expended her excitement before he'd gotten back. She didn't want him to think anything was out of the ordinary, and she generally wasn't thrilled about dressing up. "Get ready to eat your hearts out, spaceman," she sang softly to herself.

Upon seeing each other, their jaws hit the floor like a couple of blacked out drunks. The Doctor's eyes were about the size of the moon. Donna thought someone had mugged him and stolen the precious pinstripe suit. What other explanation could there be for him not wearing it?

After she made a few futile attempts at speaking, Donna got her point across by drawing vertical lines in the air and then making slashing motions across them. "No…no…pinstripes!" she managed.

"And you…" the Doctor started. God, he really had to drag his eyes away from her lovely breasts NOW…he aimed his eyes at the floor around her feet and made a sweeping gesture upward with his arms. "That dress is fantastic!"

"Thank you!" she laughed. "Wow." She shook her head in wonder. "You really do have other clothes, then? I mean, it's nice, but it's quite a shock seeing you in something else."

"Why thank you! And that, my friend, is exactly why I always go with the pinstripes," he replied with a cheeky grin. "See, when you're a Time Lord, having one thing-just one thing-be uniform and ordered is nice, you know?"

"Oh, I guess you're right."

"Ha, see, every once in a while I am brilliant on purpose," the Doctor half joked.

"You're just so impressive, aren't you?" Donna playfully mocked him. "So, are we ready to go?"  
"Yes, and we are going to make a fantastic entrance! Allonsy!" the Doctor exclaimed, offering his arm to the redhead.

"Allonsy indeed, you crazy alien," Donna smiled as she took the Doctor's arm.

"This is it? We're at a high school?" the Doctor wrinkled his nose, thoroughly put out by the tiny, sweltering gymnasium, the unnatural, bulk packaged, store bought desserts, and the foul looking punch. Where was the decorum, the class, the scrumptious appetizers?

"Of course, a high school reunion is meant to remind you of high school. Makeout sessions in the back stairways, having a cry in the loo, cutting class to go out to lunch. You know, all those priceless experiences."

"Doesn't sound like any school I've ever heard of," he muttered. "Sounds like you were a bunch of wild animals."  
"That's a lot closer to the truth than you'd think, Doctor," Donna laughed. She spotted a small knot of women by the punch bowl looking over at her. "Karen?" she yelled over the din of the music and the crowd. The woman tried to respond, got drowned out, and nodded excitedly. "C'mon, Doctor, you can meet one of my girls!" Donna squealed.

"Your girls? What d'you mean by that?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"And this is why you don't bring a spaceman to a party," Donna thought as she held in an exasperated sigh. "Too much explaining." "They're like mates, but from school, now come on!" The duo bustled their way through the throng of humanity over to the small blue table.

"Donna Noble, you look absolutely marvelous!" her friend gasped.

"Oh, thank you so much, you look great too, you always have," she smiled as they hugged.

"And who is this?" Karen indicated the Doctor.

"Doctor David Smith, m'lady," the Doctor replied with a regal bow. Karen winked at Donna. "So your boyfriend is a doctor and a gentleman? Nice catch! Does he have a brother?"

"Wait. You think we're a couple?" They pointed at each other.

"Well, yeah, you seem like one," Karen giggled.

"No, no no no no no," Donna and the Doctor answered emphatically.

"We're not dating," Donna said.

"We could never date, that's just ridiculous," the Doctor chimed in.

"Completely ridiculous," Donna added.

"We're just really good friends," the Doctor explained. "And we work together."

"So you're done with the temp job, then, Donna?" Karen asked.

"For now, yes. I can go back to it if I want, though. The flexibility's nice," Donna replied.

"Oh, that sounds great! So where's your office, Doctor?"

"Well…" the Time Lord hesitated. "I don't really have an office, per se. We sort of do a traveling business."

"Out of a blue…van," Donna piped up.

"Yeah, exactly! I keep a lot of my supplies in there, and we go wherever we can help, within reason of course," the Doctor gave Donna a quick, appreciative nod.

"Really? You run a doctor's office out of a van? I imagine it's quite cramped!" Karen remarked.

"Well, you would think that, but it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside," the Time Lord answered with a grin.

"Wait, what d'you mean? Something can't be bigger inside than it is outside!" she laughed.

"He meant it's quite comfortable on the inside, but you wouldn't know it just by looking at the outside of the car," Donna explained.

"Oh, she is good!" the Doctor thought happily.

"Oh, I see. Well, that is fascinating. Donna Noble, the traveling Doctor's assistant. Never would have believed it if someone told me that's what you've been up to, darling! D'you want to go catch up with some of our old gang?" Before Donna could answer, Karen dragged her into the untidy mass of old classmates.

"Just a sec," Donna stopped her and ran back to the Doctor. "I'll, umm, catch up with you later, shall I?" she said brightly.

"Yeah, no problem. You came here to catch up with your friends, get to it," he replied with a falsely cheery lilt in his voice. Being at someone else's high school reunion without the one person he knew wouldn't be the most fun in the world, but he'd try and make the best of it.

"Thanks, won't be too long," she called over her shoulder as she rushed back to Karen.

Eager to catch up on some gossip, Donna and Karen slid into a table packed with some their good friends from their high school days. And, just as it had been in some of their high school days, the gossip was accompanied with a side of: "Wine!" Karen held up two large bottles triumphantly. "Why not enjoy a couple drinks?" Donna thought.

(Meanwhile, the Doctor had decided to try a bit of the punch. It was fizzy cherry pop mixed with some cheap, vile vodka. "Probably bought in mass quantities, just like the desserts," he thought. "Ah well, it can't be that bad." It proved him wrong. "This stuff's meant to remind them of high school? It's awful." He nearly spit it out. A tall, burly fellow appeared next to him and followed his gaze over to where Donna was seated.)

"So, Donna, about this Doctor of yours. You're really not dating him?"

("Hey, mate. Saw you with that redhead earlier. You with her?")

"No, thank God! I mean, I like working with him, and we are pretty much best friends, but that's all we are, you know?"

("Yes. Er, hang on, no. I mean, yes, we came here together, but we're not _together_. We're just coworkers. And friends. Really good friends.")

"What do you two do, exactly? Just go around patching strangers up?"

("You work with her? Donna Noble?" the stranger gave a disbelieving laugh. "She your maid? Or your secretary? Can't really picture her doing any work besides that, hasn't got the mind or the talent for anything but simple jobs, now does she, man?")

"I guess you could say that." Donna took a bit of time mulling the answer about in her head; the wine was making her thoughts a bit muddled. "He sort of, I dunno, just knows how to find people that need help. His people, err, family, I mean, have been doing this for a long time, so he understands what he has to do. And the really, really strange thing bout him is: He never asks anyone to say thank you. He just goes off to find someone else to help. Cause he's the Doctor." Donna grabbed for Karen's arm, missed, and then grasped it. "Kar, anyone you know been sorta under the weather lately?"

"Yeah, actually," she answered, surprised by Donna's question. "My friend's sister was real tired all the time, didn't know why. That was a couple weeks ago."

"And how's she feeling now?"

"Better, much better. It's like the illness just decided to pack up and leave."

"That's what the Doctor does, Karen." The other women were both intrigued and disbelieving. "_The_ Doctor?" a few snickered behind their wine glasses. "Sounds like Donna's under a spell or something. Gone mad, maybe." Donna didn't hear them. She was lost in the middle of the Doctor's story, the most important one in the universe, the one people needed to know. "He'll help people you know, maybe even you, all these times. He'll fix things, set them right. And you never even knew he was there."

("That's a mistake, putting her down like that," the Doctor muttered. "Donna's my assistant. Look, I'm a doctor, and there are times when I'm not really sure what I'm doing. Like, there's a problem I haven't come across or something, you understand?" The man nodded. "Cause there are parts around here I've never been to, but Donna? She knows them like she knows her address, or her phone number. So she can help me. And then there are times when I feel like I know everything, I've seen everything, read everything. And she has this wonderfully disturbing, obnoxious way of reminding me that, despite all that, I'm still an idiot.")

"You totally do like him, don't you? OHMYGOD, you would totally be the best friends in a romantic comedy who go to marry other people, and then realize all they want and need is each other!" Karen squealed. Donna groaned, facepalmed, and threw back another drink.

("Sounds like you fancy her," the man said. His tone hinted, "It's a fact. Like how the earth's sky is supposed to be blue." The Doctor shivered at the frightening prospect. "It's a bit chilly in here, innit?" he remarked, and gulped down more of the punch to warm up.)

"I don't like him, I told you already. But I bloody love having him as a friend."

("Yeah, I do fancy her. I fancy her as my friend.")

The room was a slow moving carousel now (The room was a slow moving carousel now) and she just wanted to find him (and he just wanted to find her) because she missed him (because he missed her) and there was, without a doubt, no one like him in the universe (and there was, without a doubt, no one like her in the universe).

"Doctor?" she called. He popped up behind her. "Donna! There you are!" The two of them stumbled into a clumsy hug. "Would you mind going back out to the TARDIS for a bit? It's a bit stuffy in here."

"No, not at all," she answered. She couldn't help notice he wobbled a bit as he walked, like a new circus performer learning to stride around on stilts.

"Are you drunk, Doctor?" she asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

"No, no, don't be silly. I'm just like a bee at the moment, it's wonderful," he replied, a grin plastered on his face.

"Doctor, you know you're much, much smarter than me, and I've been drinking, so just once, spaceman, explain yourself clearly," Donna sighed.

"I told you, I'm like a bee!" Indignantly, he went on, "I can't bee much clearer than that. Hah, geddit? I'm…what's that noise bees make, I can't remember."

"Oh, you're buzzed." Donna gave a small laugh. She leaned in close and whispered, "Can Time Lords get drunk?"

"Oh, if only I'd had her body heat to warm me up instead of that disgusting punch." This rogue thought turned the Doctor's head into a ping pong match.

"WHAT?! What am I thinking? That's…that's Donna!"  
"Yeah, and at the moment, Donna looks pretty damn good, doesn't she?"

"True. S'pose you've got a point there," he mumbled under his breath.

"What's that?" Donna asked politely. He was slammed back into reality.

"Oh, I just said I suppose you've got a point. Yes, Time Lords can become inebriated," he whispered back.

Donna gave a small sigh, fixed him with a serious stare, and said, "I'm sorry, Doctor. I'm so, so sorry." WHAP! She slapped him straight across the face. "But can't you ever talk like…well, like a normal human, dumbo?" she cracked up, she couldn't help it. Oh, his reaction to all this was priceless, his eyebrows had vanished into his shock of hair. "Or even just a less stuffy Time Lord. I mean, yes, I know you're older, but really…inebriated? You can't say smashed, or plastered, or hammered? Even drunk would have sufficed." Donna dabbed at her eyes with the dress. God, she had to look a mess by now. "I'm sorry, spaceman." She took an uncertain step forward and hugged him. "You're absolutely different from the rest of the world, and quite mad, I know, and that's why you're amazing. It's why I love you," she said naturally. Alarming thoughts zoomed around her head like crazed taxi drivers.

"Did I really just say I loved him?" she thought incredulously.

"Well, yeah, because YOU DO LOVE HIM, you moron!" another part of her shouted.

"Yeah, but I thought I meant it…different than before, you know?

"Oi, keep it down, bugger off with the loud noises and deep thinking. I DO NOT want to have a headache tomorrow!" a nerve in her temple growled.

"It's…it's ok, Donna," he laughed a tiny bit after recovering from the shock and the sting. "I love you, too. Because…" he sighed, trying to tell it right. He quite liked the feeling of being with her, and he quite liked the feeling of being buzzed, but both of those feelings combined really interfered with his thinking. He finally spoke again. "You treat me like a regular human, a regular man, more than anyone else ever has. I could do without getting slapped, though."

"Don't blame me for that one. It's not my fault not even one stupid man back there could appreciate my beauty," Donna answered with her nose upturned in mock haughtiness, laughing to hide an unusual, almost disturbing thought: "I wonder if he ever looks at me? He is a man, after all. God, what is wrong with my head? I need to avoid drinking anything Karen gives me in the future."

("She's really not bad looking generally, but tonight, she's something else entirely. She's…beautiful.")

"Right, I'll have a word with them later." A shadow of his usual, easy going grin appeared in the wrinkles on his cheeks, but it went away quickly. "Anyway, I got used to being all Time Lord-y with Rose because she liked me that way. She always put me above herself. And that's why I could never tell her, literally, that I loved her. I mean, I did love her, and she easily could have guessed it. But I thought that if I told her, she'd latch on to me, and just never let go. And in the end…" He drew a shaky breath. "Everyone goes on. Just didn't want to hurt her that much," he ended quietly.

"Oh, you poor, cursed Time Lord!" she thought. For the first time, Donna felt heavy pity for him, knew why he'd have spells where his incendiary temper would burst forth like a hidden demon. If she'd been with Lee in real life and couldn't love him properly, she knew she'd become a miserable, depressed wretch in days. No, not days, she'd turn in an hour. No, there was still too much time hanging there, she wouldn't be able to handle anything that bad for that long. But the Doctor just kept going, he did. Despite everything, he was always on the run. "It's the only selfish thing he does," she realized. "If he stood still, the pain would paralyze him. So he runs. But it's always to help someone else." She moved in closer to the Doctor still, giving him a consoling hug.

"Donna?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being here," he said softly.

"Oh, Doctor, you don't have to thank me," she replied gently. "Really, compared to Rose…I'm nothing," she sighed. "I mean, she defeated the Daleks, and closed up the Void, and looked gorgeous doing it. And I'm just plain old Donna, super temp. It's me who's lucky to have you," she whispered.

He froze her thoughts, her self pity, with his eyes. "Donna Noble, don't you dare say you're nothing. You chose to come with me, just as much as Rose did. How can you say you haven't done anything? You know just as well as I do that an entire planet, an entire civilization, is singing your song, right now." He held her tighter, and for once, she didn't object.

She meant to just say "Thank you" with as much love and appreciation as she could put into it. So then why were her heels off the ground, why was she standing on tiptoe, why was she moving her lips closer and closer to his when she knew perfectly well that his lips couldn't hear the words she wanted to say…

Their thoughts were nearly identical twins.

"Why doesn't he understand how great he is, living with enough heartache to flood his veins twice over and still doing the things that hurt him?"

("How could she ever, ever think she's not important?")

"Oh, God, this isn't right!"

("Don't do this, don't do this, you can't, she'll be another Rose!")

Just before their lips met, he whispered, "Just best mates? Just partners in crime?"

"Just best mates, just partners in crime, for as long as we've got," she asserted without hesitation.

They shared their first kiss like it was a decadent dessert.

He deserves to be loved (She deserves to be loved) Even if it's just by a friend (Even if it's just by a friend) And only a friend (And only a friend).

The Doctor forced his hands off Donna's body-They were practically magnetized to her-just long enough for him to snap his fingers so the TARDIS doors could open. However, he'd neglected to take his body off the door, as he was far too busy probing Donna's mouth with his tongue, so the pair of them tumbled backwards into the TARDIS.

"Doctor?" Donna said sweetly.

"Yes?" He replied weakly.

"You're an idiot."

"I know."

"Just making sure you don't forget," Donna winked, and her face, that lovely, expressive, pale as a moonbeam face filled his field of vision again, and their tongues snaked together. Slowly, they danced their way over to Donna's bedroom, each of them fighting to keep some body part-a lip, a leg, a finger, a hand-connected to the other. The Doctor laid her down gently on the bed and began lavishing the rest of her body with presents-a nip at her neck, a caress along the side of her face, a barrage of kisses planted gently on her collarbone. "Feels like someone's been around the block a few times, spaceboy," she panted. "Still think I'm an idiot, then?" he grinned as he slid the sleeves of her dress off her shoulders. Donna groaned, both from pleasure and annoyance. "Oi, get your lips back on my body this second or I'll…" He was more than happy to cut her off as he slid the dress down more and showered her cleavage with kisses. The scent of her perfume, mixed with the taste of the salty sweat trickling down her breasts, brewed the most powerful aphrodisiac the Doctor had ever encountered.

Donna lay before him in nothing but a black lace bra and panties. He still had all his clothes on. "This is unfair," she whined. "You've seen everything wrong with me, I haven't had anything to look at yet!" She teased him gently, but in reality, she wanted him, all of him, in front of her, fast as possible. "You aren't planning on wearing any of these things again, are you?"

"Oh, no, no way. Back to good old pinstripes after this."

"I never thought I'd say this, but that is fantastic news," she muttered. The redhead ripped his clothes off hurriedly, shredding them a bit in the process, like a cat clawing a set of kitchen curtains.

The two lay next to each other on the bed, basking in the unfamiliar sensations of each other's bodies: The way the Doctor loved having his hair mussed as they made out, the way Donna felt goose bumps pop up all over when he rubbed her back. After a few delicious minutes, though, the Doctor pulled away from her a bit.

"Are you sure you want this, Donna?" he asked softly.

"Of course, thanks," she answered with a smile. She was touched by his concern, but also really wanted to be touched in a more physical, tangible way by her fantastic alien friend.

"Are you really sure?" he asked again.

"Yes, Doctor," she rolled her eyes.

"You're 100% sure that you want this? That you want me? And it's not just because…well, it's not just because I want it? You're not just doing it as a favor?"

She groaned and laid a hand across her forehead. Here she was, stripped down to her bra and panties, positively radiating sexual heat, and the Doctor wondered if she wanted this? "Why can't you be like a normal man for just one second?" she thought furiously. "Then again," she thought logically, "If you were like a normal man, this wouldn't be happening." Donna suddenly grinned. "He wants an answer, I'll give him an answer."

"Could you please close your eyes for a second, Doctor?" answering his question with one of her own.

"I s'pose, for you, yes," he pouted. He was finally actually allowed to look at her and now he couldn't? Rubbish.

"Alright, no peeking." She yanked the crotch of her panties to one side and slid her pointer finger in and out of her womanhood, stoking her roaring fire. She pulled it out after a few small thrusts, and the upper half of the finger glistened with her wetness. She was about to put it in front of the Doctor's mouth, and then had an even better idea, a deliciously filthy idea. She slowly worked her finger around in her own mouth, savoring the sweet nectar, and was careful not to swallow.

"Still got your eyes shut, then?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Now open your mouth." And she kissed him full on, stealing the breath from his lips, and making sure he received all of her self crafted gift.

"Does that answer your question, Time Lord?" she whispered throatily.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh my word, Donna Noble, you are so bad, but also so very good," he moaned.

"Ooh, Doctor! I know I'm bad. D'you know what you have to do with bad girls?"

"No, but I'd love for you to tell me after another kiss."

She obliged, got on top of him, then whispered sensually, "Make fantastic love to them."

"Well, what do you know, I'd be more than happy to do that." He caressed her exquisite breasts and lush backside and practically glued his lips to her skin. Donna swiveled her hips round as she took the Doctor inside her. For a couple of minutes, he was mesmerized by his gorgeous, fierce, sexy companion. "You are so beautiful," he told her as their lips met yet again.

She blushed. Forget about the last time someone told her that when she was in bed with them, when was the last time anyone had told her that, period? "You're pretty good looking yourself, Doctor." He began meeting her thrusts, entering deeper into her body. They were perfectly in sync with each other. There was no need for words. Their looks and grabs and touches and squeezes and moans formed a lovely new language.

After a few more minutes, the Doctor was getting close to his climax. "Donna? Can I cum inside you?"

"Oh…yes!" she cried out, tightening her body around him to make him feel even better.

"Donna?" he groaned.

"Hmm…Oh, that's it!" she screamed. "Yes?" she gasped.

"Try to make sure I keep my eyes open for all of this," he grunted.

"Any…Oohh yeah, you are so deep inside me!...reason why?"

"I want to see how good you feel, I want to make sure you're enjoying this," he whispered hoarsely as he bucked against her.

"Oh, you are such a sweetheart," she whispered back, nearly crying at how much he cared for her. "Ok, Doctor, I will," she promised. "I'll try to do the same for you, alright?"

"Oh…oh…yes!" he moaned.

The new lovers tightened their grip on each other, pressing their bodies as close together as possible, trying to electrify every nerve with friction. They shared one final, beautiful, eyes wide open kiss as they each achieved an orgasm. "Oh, yes!" the Doctor moaned, feeling the heat exit his body and get swallowed up by Donna's own fire.

Exhausted, sweaty, but unbelievably content, Donna and the Doctor cuddled up to fall asleep. They both had tears in their eyes now. It was the first time someone they cared for had truly, physically loved them.

"I love you, my super temp."

"I love you, too, my spaceman."


End file.
